Man's hard drive 'containing $130m worth of Bitcoin' is buried at local landfill site
It's the stuff of financial nightmares - make a fortune, then lose it all because of one simple mistake.
But Welsh IT worker James Howell's saga is particularly fascinating because his financial loss is not in the conventional currency of cold, hard cash.
In 2013, during a clean-out at home, Howell accidentally threw out a hard drive containing 'a few hundred thousand pounds' in Bitcoin, the digital currency that is now taking the finance world by storm.
By the end of 2013 it was estimated that Howell's lost hard drive was worth around 4 million pounds, or 7 million Australian dollars, Metro UK reported.
After a recent price surge, its value is now closer to 74 million pounds, or 130 million Australian dollars.
But Mr Howell's hard-drive is now most likely sitting at the bottom of a rubbish tip in Newport, south-east Wales, and he's trying to convince the local council to let him forage for it.
He believes he can estimate the location by calculating its depth based on the date it was thrown out.
"It's just been a waiting game for the past few years," he told the Telegraph UK.
"Waiting until the bitcoin price was high enough to make the drive a juicy enough treasure to hunt."
Mr Howell seemed remarkably philosophical about the loss, telling The Telegraph: "Accidents happen. I just get on with it.
"I've always known Bitcoin would go this high and I've always known the value of the hard drive would go up."
Mr Howell said he thought the value of his Bitcoin shares could, in future, make him a billionaire - but he has to find that hard drive first.
